Processed by
Betty Alberty
Paul Brockman, Supervisor
18 September 2002
Updated 26 March 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
8 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize folder, 6 folders of photographs, 4 negatives. 1 oversize graphic |
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COLLECTION |
1819–1963 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Ralph D. Gray, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 1980 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
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ACCESSION |
1980.0503 |
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NOTES: |
Originally processed by Paul Brockman and Carolyn Autry. |
Beulah B. (Brazleton) Gray (1882–1964) was a local historian, newspaper editor/owner, and genealogist in Pike County, Indiana.
Mrs. Gray was born in Petersburg, Indiana, the daughter of Rosalvo and Laura (Capehart) Brazelton. She graduated from Petersburg High School in 1900 and taught school in Cato, Indiana, from 1901–1902. In 1903 she married Edward Montgomery Gray (circa 1880–1932), and they had four children.
Early in life Mrs. Gray began writing letters prolifically and developing her great interest in history and genealogy which she maintained throughout her life. In 1920 she joined the staff of the Otwell Star as a reporter. She served as editor of the paper from 1929–1945, and purchased the paper about 1930. She also wrote a column about the history and the residents of Pike County. During this same period, she began a regular and continuing correspondence with Senator Homer E. Capehart.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, she saw a need to stay in touch with those going off to war. She began by writing and requesting their unit insignia. Some of these men and women became regular correspondents, writing from all theaters of the war, including enemy prison camps. She never failed to reply to the soldiers' letters, and always with encouragement and affection. During the war she opened a correspondence with an English woman named Elsie Whitehurst Lighthorn, whose parents owned an inn in Norwich, Cheshire, England. Over a period of years, a deep friendship developed between the two women that lasted well beyond the end of the war.
In addition to her newspaper work, Mrs. Gray wrote many historical articles and pamphlets, and was a frequent speaker on historical topics. She also wrote many church pageants and short plays for special celebrations. Her greatest accomplishment was The Saga of Three Churches: A History of Presbyterianism in Petersburg, 1821–1953.
In 1945 Mrs. Gray sold the Star to Donald M. Montgomery of the Petersburg Press, and in November of the following year, the Star was absorbed by the Press. After her retirement from the newspaper business, Mrs. Gray became the housemother for the student nurses' residence at Welborn Baptist Hospital in Evansville. She remained there until ill health forced her retirement in 1950. She then returned to Petersburg where she lived with her daughter until her death in 1964.
Sources: Information in
collection.
Thompson, Donald Eugene. Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1917–1966:
A Continuation of Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1816–1916, and
Containing Additional Names from the Earlier Period. Crawfordsville, Ind.: Wabash
College, 1974. p. 241 (Z1281 .B31 1974).
Pumroy, Eric. A Guide to Manuscript Collections Indiana
Historical Society and Indiana State Library.
Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. (Z 1281 .P5 1986).
The largest part of the correspondence is concerned primarily with Mrs. Gray's genealogical work, but letters from friends both locally and worldwide are also included. The non-genealogical letters mainly contain family news, events, and items of mutual interest to writer and Mrs. Gray. Genealogical inquiries in addition to the Gray and Brazelton families include extensive material relating to the Hargrave, DeBruler, Chappell, Niblack, Capehart, Chambers, Davisson, Kelso, and Foster families.
There are also some scattered letters from various ancestors of the Grays and the Brazeltons from 1835–1864, and a lengthy Christmas letter written by Beulah Gray in 1927 in which she describes Billy Sunday's appearance at Lawrenceburgh, Indiana.
The military correspondence includes stateside as well as overseas mail. A large percentage of this material is from Elsie Whitehurst Lightburn from 1944–1949 and provides extensive accounts of wartime England during the blitz, the first V-2 bombings, and daily life with its shortages, rationing, and coping with the presence of thousands of foreigners. As her letters were not subject to military censorship, her accounts of daily life and the war are fuller than those of U.S. soldiers. Mrs. Gray also received letters from soldiers and other military personnel who were allowed to write only about the weather or personal feelings.
The papers also include legal documents, tax receipts, and land indentures (1819–1919); religious history and its related correspondence; the manuscript and press releases for The Saga of Three Churches; and articles, essays, programs, and pageants written by Mrs. Gray. Among the other items in the collection are three copy books (1833, 1840, and ca. 1912), a music book (1895), assorted clippings relating individuals within the collection, and genealogical articles.
Visual material in the collection includes postcards from Elsie Whitehurst Lightburn and American soldiers, and photographs of the Gray, Brazelton, and Capehart families. Also included is a hand-painted Christmas card sent to Gray by an American soldier.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Family Records and Newspaper Clippings, 1783–1958 |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Personal Documents, n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Edward Gray, Inquest, Car Photos, 1932 [photocopies] |
Box 1, Folder 3 |
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Marian Gray Anderson, 1941–62 |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Ralph D. Gray |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Grandchildren Correspondence |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Rex and Josephine Brazelton Correspondence |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Correspondence, 1894–1943 |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Correspondence, 1951–62 |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Laura C. Brazelton, Items and Obituaries |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Special Greetings |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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Correspondence, 1835–91 |
Box 1, Folder 12 |
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Family Letters, 1927 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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Correspondence, 1938–49 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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Correspondence, 1950–54 |
Box 1, Folder 15 |
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Correspondence, 1955–63 |
Box 1, Folder 16 |
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Family Photographs, ca. 1880s–1950s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 1 |
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Family Photographs, ca. 1950s–60s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 2 |
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Family Photographs, Military Insignias, Documents |
Visual Collections: Color Photographs, Folder 1 |
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William Harris and William Hawley Correspondence, 1955–57 |
Box 2, Folder 1 |
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John Foster Dulles Correspondence, 1955–57 |
Box 2, Folder 2 |
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Albert Rumbach Correspondence and Clippings, 1948–58 |
Box 2, Folder 3 |
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Forrest Anderson Correspondence, 1935–55 |
Box 2, Folder 4 |
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Homer Capehart Correspondence, 1938–62 |
Box 2, Folder 5 |
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World War II Correspondence, Pacific Theater, 1943–49 |
Box 2, Folder 6 |
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World War II Correspondence, Pacific Theater, 1942–45 |
Box 2, Folder 7 |
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World War II Correspondence, Ivan L. Dillon, 1942–44 |
Box 2, Folder 8 |
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World War II Correspondence, Joe Harris, 1942–44, 1947 |
Box 2, Folder 9 |
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World War II Correspondence, European Theater, 1944–45 |
Box 2, Folder 10 |
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World War II Correspondence, Europe, Africa, Allied Nurses Corps |
Box 2, Folder 11 |
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World War II Correspondence, 1944–49 (1 of 2) |
Box 2, Folder 12 |
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World War II Correspondence, 1944–49 (2 of 2) |
Box 3, Folder 1 |
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Hand-painted Christmas card from WW II soldier |
Visual Collections: OVA Graphics |
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World War II Photographs |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 3 |
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World War II Photographs |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 4 |
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World War II Postcards |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 5 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Pike County Families (1 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 2 |
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Pike County Families (2 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 3 |
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Pike County Families (3 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 4 |
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Pike County Families (4 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 5 |
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Pike County Families (5 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 6 |
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Pike County Families (6 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 7 |
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Pike County Families (7 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 8 |
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Pike County Families (8 of 8) |
Box 3, Folder 9 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Press Clippings, Saga of Three Churches |
Box 4, Folder 1 |
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Correspondence, Saga of Three Churches |
Box 4, Folder 2 |
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“Mothers of the Bible” |
Box 4, Folder 3 |
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William Owen Harris |
Box 4, Folder 4 |
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History of Presbyterian Churches, Petersburg, Indiana |
Box 4, Folder 5 |
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Correspondence, Newsletters, Clippings |
Box 4, Folder 6 |
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Local History/Biographies—Petersburg, Indiana |
Box 4, Folder 7 |
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Beulah Gray, “Petersburg” |
Box 4, Folder 8 |
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Beulah Gray, “Early History of Pike County” |
Box 4, Folder 9 |
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Pike County History |
Box 4, Folder 10 |
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Legal Documents and Tax Receipts, 1831–59 |
Box 4, Folder 11 |
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Land Grants and Indentures, 1819–72, 1900–19 |
Box 5, Folder 1 |
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Muster Roll, 58th Indiana Regiment, Co. “I,” 1862–65 |
OM 0262 |
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Petersburg, Indiana, ca. 1880 |
Visual Collections: Photographs, OVA |
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Pike County Histories |
Box 5, Folder 2 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Cards and Mementos |
Box 5, Folder 3 |
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Literary Essays |
Box 5, Folder 4 |
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Articles and Essays |
Box 5, Folder 5 |
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“Mothers of the Bible” Speech, Religious Essays |
Box 5, Folder 6 |
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Patriotic Essays, Speech, Christmas Program |
Box 5, Folder 7 |
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Saga of Three Churches Performance |
Visual Collections: 120-size Acetate Negative Storage |
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“We Entertain the Governor” |
Box 5, Folder 8 |
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“A Voice from the Grave” |
Box 5, Folder 9 |
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Manuscript Pages—American Legion Auxiliary, 1937 |
Box 6, Folder 1 |
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Biography and Original Music of Gale Edward Evans |
Box 6, Folder 2 |
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Copy Books of Sarah Rebecca Hathorn, 1833 and 1840 |
Box 6, Folder 3 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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D.A.R. Booklets |
Box 6, Folder 4 |
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Assorted Clippings (1 of 2) |
Box 6, Folder 5 |
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Assorted Clippings (2 of 2) |
Box 6, Folder 6 |
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Postcards, 1948–60s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 5 |
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General Photographs and Postcards, ca. 1850s–1940s |
Visual Collections: Photographs, Folder 6 |
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Rivers of Glory, Reviewed by Beulah Gray |
Box 6, Folder 7 |
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Pamphlets and General Items |
Box 6, Folder 8 |
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Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints |
Box 7, Folder 1 |
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Unidentified School Workbook |
Box 7, Folder 2 |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0391).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.